When he came to her again with yet another question, she turned to him with a huge smile and said,
当他几天后找莱文提问题时，莱文笑容满面地对他说：
"I am going to answer all of your questions. I really am.
“你的所有问题我都会回答，真的。
But right now, the only thing that is going to keep me from falling down on the floor and having a heart attack right in front of you
不过，如果你不怕我急得突发心脏病，
is for you to get out of your chair, go back to your desk, and write the paragraphs we need for Congress."
那么就请你赶紧把稿子写了。”
It worked beautifully.
这番话果然立刻起效。
A colleague at Google, Adam Freed, and I were frustrated by someone at work who was making our jobs very difficult.
在谷歌工作时，由于某位员工的个人原因，我们的工作很难开展。当时，亚当·弗里德和我常常感到泄气。
I met with her several times and earnestly explained that I felt that she was second-guessing our every move and preventing progress.
我和这个员工面谈过几次，并且非常诚心地向她解释说，我感觉她总是在事后对我们工作进行负面的评判，以致阻碍了项目的进展。
During each heartfelt discussion, she would listen and nod and thank me for raising the matter.
在交流时，她都会边听边点头，并感谢我能如实相告。
I would leave feeling better. Then the situation would get worse.
当时我的心情也好了许多，但此后情况却没有任何好转。
Adam took a totally different approach.
弗里德和我采用的方式完全不同。
He invited her to lunch.
他邀请那位员工一起吃午餐、
They met at the Google cafe, chatted a bit, and then he looked at her and jokingly asked, "Why do you hate me?"
聊天，然后看着她，半开玩笑地问道：“你为什么会那么恨我呢？”
Where I had failed repeatedly, Adam broke through.
我那过不去的坎儿，弗里德一下子就过去了。
She asked why he would make that joke, which gave him a chance to explain in a way she was able to hear.
她问他为什么要这么说，于是弗里德用她能真正接受的方式处理了这个问题。
Unfortunately, our sense of humor sometimes fails us when we need it most.
遗憾的是，当最需要幽默感的时候，我们往往力不从心。
When I get emotional, it's very hard for me to treat a problem lightly.
当我情绪开始激动时，便很难轻松地面对问题。